Rugged, sepia-colored land stretches for miles around the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in the small town of Tornillo, Texas. This border gateway across from Guadalupe, Mexico, was known as the Tornillo Port of Entry until 2016, when it was re-named after Private Marcelino Serna, a Mexican citizen who crossed illegally into Texas in 1916 and enlisted in the U.S. Army. He went on to become the most decorated Texas soldier of World War I.
A few years ago, the government had big plans to develop a trade corridor here, acquiring a large swath of the surrounding land through eminent domain. But the project hit some snags, and the commercial traffic neverreally took off. Instead, this corner of West Texas about 40 miles from El Paso became known for something very different: a tent city built here in June 2018 to house migrant children in the government’s custody.
Thanks to Trump administration policies that extended government custody of migrant children, the number of kids detained at Tornillo rose dramatically over a period of several months. As the population expanded, the facility’s footprint grew; at its peak, in December, it boasted more than 100 tents and was the largest migrant child shelter in the country. The kids were between 13 and 17 years old, and hailed from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and some other countries.
[For more on this story by TANVI MISRA, go to https://www.citylab.com/equity...lo-tent-city/578557/]
Comments (0)